Rositta E. Kenigsberg: Holocaust guardian

Rositta E. Kenigsberg, executive vice president of the Holocaust Documentation and Education, Center, Inc. in Hollywood, is the daughter of a Holocaust survivor.

She was born in a displaced persons camp in Austria. Her family immigrated first to Montreal and moved to Miami in 1981. Shortly after her arrival to Miami she formed a group for children of Holocaust survivors.

"I founded the first Children of Holocaust Survivors Group of Southeastern Florida and worked as a volunteer for the Holocaust Documentation and Education Center, Inc. for many years before being asked to assume the leadership of the organization," Kenigsberg said.

Kenigsberg has played an important role in the Holocaust Center for nearly 30 years.

In 1990, Kenigsberg served along with Shoshana Cardin, Norman Lipoff, and Elie Wiesel, as one of the four founding members of the North American Advisory Board of the "March of the Living."

"My father was in several camps before being liberated," she said.

Kenigsberg is most proud of her lobbying efforts for more than a decade on behalf of Holocaust education.

"In 1994 Governor Lawton Chiles signed Florida Statute 1003.42 into law," she said. "This bill ensures the teaching of Holocaust Education for all Florida students from K-20 as well as provides the necessary training and resources."

Kenigsberg has been deeply involved in Holocaust education.

"My goal is to ensure that the authentic memory of the Holocaust will never be denied or destroyed and that the efforts of the Holocaust Center will focus on the documentation, education and preservation of the lessons and legacy of the Holocaust," Kenigsberg said.

Kenigsberg is the founding chairperson of the Florida Commissioner's Task Force on Holocaust Education that mandates funds for eight college-accredited Teacher Training Institutes which are offered to Florida's 67 school districts.

Her current project is raising funds for the first South Florida Holocaust Museum which will become the first Museum in North America to tell the story of the Holocaust in English and Spanish.

"We need to raise $21 million dollars for the project," Kenigsberg said. "We are the gateway to Latin America and constructing a museum that will tell the story of the Holocaust in Spanish as well as English is important to a large number of Spanish speaking people."

"I continue to work hard on this project because of what my father told me long ago," Kenigsberg said. "It's not just important to live. It's what you do with your life that's important."

Kenigsberg is married, has two children, six grandchildren, and lives in Broward County.

Dr. Abraham Fischler, former president of Nova Southeastern University and a board member of the Holocaust Documentation and Education, Center, Inc. since its inception said Kenigsberg deserves a lot of credit for her accomplishments.

"Her persistence, commitment, dedication and enthusiasm are above and beyond what is required," Fischler said. "It was her idea to build a museum to provide a home for the artifacts from the Holocaust that she has collected during her many years with the Center. She will have to raise $20 to $30 million to do it and I'm sure she will get it done."